Concerns remain for Denmark-US beef trade

The Danish government will urge the EU to consider adopting sanitation measures to ease the importing of US beef, but provisions in the food safety bill now moving through the House may make it harder for Denmark to export its pork to the US, according to the Danish agriculture minister.

Danish Agriculture Minister Kjer Hansen urged US legislators and regulators not to increase regulation on food imports from countries that have proven food safety records. A provision in the food safety bill recently approved could lead to new FDA reporting requirements for Danish pork exports to the US, she said.

The bill allows the US FDA some leeway, but the fear is that reporting requirements could be imposed on individual shipments.

Hansen noted that Denmark has a national animal identification system that allows for full traceability of animal diseases from use back to birth.

Hansen also said Denmark would urge the EU's food safety agency to consider the use of lactic acid acetic acid to be used on meat carcasses.